


Little Children

by CindyBarnard



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 21:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14986226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CindyBarnard/pseuds/CindyBarnard
Summary: AU. Voldemort had won. Sirius Black had to work with Lucius Malfoy on a new mission for Voldemort. Will he survive this mission?





	Little Children

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [TheSlytherinCabal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlytherinCabal/pseuds/TheSlytherinCabal) in the [DBQ2018Round3](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DBQ2018Round3) collection. 



> **Prompt:**

 

Sirius stood gaping at the Dark wizard in front of him. Shock could not begin to describe what was foremost in his mind at that exact moment. Sirius pressed his lips as his mind took him back to how he found himself in this situation. It had all started when he had duelled his deranged cousin in the Department of Mysteries years back. He had been cocky, he admits to that now, and he had just thought it was his end when Bellatrix fired of her curse when he was knocked sideways and tumbled to the ground.

Looking up he realised that someone –who, he still doesn’t know—had saved him.

But it was as if with his life having been spared, some other upset in the fates had happened. Voldemort had won. His godson, Harry, was dead. Sirius swallowed back the usual lump with the thought of young Harry. He couldn’t let it consume him.

Now he worked for Voldemort.

It was survival now. No Harry to fight for or believe in; the Order of the Phoenix has been completely vanquished. There weren’t even pockets of resistance anymore. You either served Voldemort or you got killed, or for a lucky few, you got banned from England. So he served.

Mostly he had menial jobs, run errands for Lord Voldemort or carry messages for the Elite. He preferred it like that, kept him out of the spotlight. But now, five years after Voldemort’s final victory, he got called in for something beyond the usual. He was given a new job. A heinous job.

“I beg pardon, my Lord—I must steal children?” His throat felt dry as he phrased the question, knowing he had to be very careful.

Lord Voldemort narrowed his eyes in warning. “Careful, Black… lest I think you are questioning my decision.”

Sirius squared his shoulders and firmed his face, “No… of course not my Lord. I was merely confirming that I understood perfectly.”

Voldemort gave him a final glare before giving his forced smile. “Good… Good. And yes, all _muggleborn_ children are to be taken at a young age as possible. They will be placed in the shelters I have prepared for them. We must save all our magical folk from the clutches of muggles.”

Sirius shuddered with the ominous ‘muggleborn’ phrase. Knowing that Voldemort had not used ‘mudblood’ on purpose. For somewhere in his mind he had decided that the children are in fact need of saving from their Muggle parents. Sirius knew it was because of rising Squib births, Voldemort knew that they needed fresh blood and couldn't inbreed further.

“And how will we handle the placement of the children, my Lord?” Sirius kept his tone flat and emotionless, knowing it was the safest.

Voldemort laughed then. “Well, as you put it. We steal them in the night. Let the muggles think it’s some syndicate. Oh, and make sure the children are silent when you take them.”

Sirius swallowed and nodded then backed away when Voldemort waved him away irritatedly. He had no idea how he would handle stealing children away from their parents. It just …. He just couldn’t swallow that.

 

* * *

 

 

Sirius met up with his superior the following day. To his surprise, he saw that Lucius Malfoy was in charge of the Muggleborn Rescue –as Voldemort had named the operation. Sirius was relieved to see that the Malfoy patriarch had a certain tenseness to his jaw that was usually only there when he was tasked with something unpleasant.

He wasn’t the only one finding the Muggleborn Rescue abhorrent, therefore.

Although, Sirius guess it wouldn’t be surprising as Lucius Malfoy had changed in certain regards. For starters, he was newly married now to a certain muggleborn witch, and although few people knew it, the marriage was a happy one. Sirius was one of the few in the tight inner circle that was privy to the fact that Lucius and his wife loved each other. Sirius couldn’t say that it meant that he and the elder Malfoy was friends now in any way, but they did tolerate each other for the sake of Hermione. Hermione was the only person left that Sirius owed any true allegiance to and it is also the other reason he stayed and served. Because Hermione was very smart and she had told him they had to serve and try to bring balance from the inside quietly. It was why she decided on Malfoy, him being one of the Elite and yet sanest as well as most intelligent. Hermione had told him that Lucius Malfoy had the capacity for love which she saw in his worry and loyalty to Draco and Narcissa. It was really sad, yet convenient – as cold as that sounds—that Narcissa was punished with death for trying to help Harry.

Sirius grimaced, Lucius and Hermione Malfoy pretended to have a marriage of convenience to anyone outside of their tight inner circle, in order to keep Voldemort from suspecting love was involved. Yet, they were both completely loyal and enamoured with each other.

Lucius relaxed the slightest bit when he saw it was Sirius that entered the meeting room at Riddle Manor. Before speaking, Lucius discreetly cast a Muffliato spell. “Black. Did not know you were assigned under me with this operation.”

Sirius nodded, his lips compressed together indicating his disgust with the operation. “Malfoy. Same here. Glad though… then I can at least relax somewhat with this mess.”

Lucius grunted slightly, “Distasteful mess.”

Sirius nodded and sat down in one of the chairs while dropping his face into his hands before lifting it again to speak. “How will this work?”

Lucius sat down opposite him with a frown. “As of yet, it is only you and me in the locating and placing. The shelters are up and running and awaiting their first inhabitants. The children will from there be evaluated and paired to appropriate wizarding families. Adoption is mandatory once paired.”

Sirius frowned now, already seeing problems in the system. “And what if those children are placed with purity supremacist? They will be abused…”

Lucius gave a sardonic grin at that. “Well, luckily that was one of the first worries of my wife. So with our joint powers of charm and persuasion, we managed to convince enough of the Elite that the law must also include a few addendums. Namely; the children will be monitored until they are of age for any ill-treatment and that fair and just treatment is mandatory as well. It was quite easy really… all magical blood is precious after all.”

Sirius couldn’t help it, he laughed then. “You and Hermione just know how to subtly use his own words to get what you want, don’t you.”

Lucius gave a nod, his sardonic smile back in place. At moments such as this, Sirius knew why Hermione did as she did. Bring balance quietly from the inside.

“Any formal procedure on how we will steal the children?” Sirius couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice then.

Lucius sat back with a frown and laced his fingers together under his chin. “Well, the locating is easy. It will be the same process used by the Ministry as had been done for centuries for muggleborns. The difference is, usually the ministry only send the year’s list a year before Hogwarts enrolment. Now it will be sent the moment they register. As we know, the magic registers usually anytime between birth and age five. So that will be the age bracket of the children.”

Sirius nodded in understanding. “And as we receive the names we go and get them?”

Lucius confirmed with a single nod. “Yes. We break into the house at night and take the child. It must be done quietly as to not wake the parents. We want to leave no trace of magic or traceable muggle evidence. They must believe some kidnapping syndicate is happening.”

Sirius felt his throat constrict. How will they keep the children silent?

 

* * *

 

 

It was a quiet night about a week after receiving his new job description that found Sirius and Lucius standing in shadows in the backyard of a suburban muggle house. They had received their name list and were at their first address. Sirius felt nauseous and kept biting his inner cheeks. He could feel the metallic taste as blood invaded his mouth.

Lucius was very quiet and tense next to him, trying to deal with his own disgust of what they had to do.

Sirius watched through the lighted window as the parents made turns to hug the two-year-old goodnight before tucking him into bed. They seemed like your average loving family. They smiled and listened to the toddler babbling before finally giving final kisses and leaving the room and turning off the light. A shudder ran through Sirius as he realised he would be the cause of the parents suffering unimaginable grief the next morning.

Lucius was watching the same scene and had to swallow back rising bile. He didn’t show it much, but he found this whole operation even more disgusting than Black. And he knew it as for the simple fact, he had a son. A son he loves and that was his joy. The loss of your child is something you can only ever truly try to comprehend if you actually have a child. It was at times as such that he was considering to take his family and leave the country. He and Hermione had discussed it, but she is adamant that they must remain so that they could at least influence some things. Like making sure these children are at least taken care of if they must be stolen. And so, he once more resolved to do this as painlessly as possible for the children at least. If he had his way, he would have obliviated the parents. But Voldemort insisted no magic must be used on the parents or on the house or its contents.

It was sometime later that they were happy that the parents were completely asleep along with the neighbours. The whole neighbourhood was dark and quiet, people blissfully unaware of the crime that was about to be committed in one house.

Silently the two wizards apparated into the living room after having cast disillusionment charms on each other. Voldemort said no magic on the parents or house and its contents. He said nothing about on themselves. Making sure their quiet pops didn’t disturb anyone, they crept up the stairs and made their way to the toddler’s bedroom. They had to take the child and go back downstairs to apparate out. The reason being that their pops might wake the parents if it’s done from the child’s room next to the parents' room. Voldemort didn’t want the parents to realise their children were gone till long after the fact.

The room was dimly lit by a night light so making their way over to the bed was easy enough. It was as Sirius was a step away from the bedside that the toddler’s eyes popped open blearily. Sirius instantly panicked and froze uncertainly, the boy blinked at him and then a sleepy frown marred his features. Sirius reacted and started whispering reassuringly to the boy as he bends over to pick him up.

“Hush… don’t worry… We won't hurt you…” But as he lifted the toddler he started to squirm and a slight whining sound emitted from between his lips.

“Noooooo…” his squirming intensified and Sirius was starting to panic profusely. The toddler’s whine was still soft but it was increasing in pitch. “Hush little one…. Hush…”

Sirius was still trying to figure out what to do when he heard the soft ‘ _Silencio_ ’ from behind him, and suddenly the whining sounds from the toddler in his arms stopped. Looking down he saw the toddler’s mouth moving as if full out screaming and red in the face, yet no sound was heard.

Sirius swirled around to stare on shock at Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius looked back at Black’s shocked face but kept his own impassive mask on. “No magic on the house or muggles. The child isn’t a muggle.” He whispered emotionlessly.

With that he turned and crept from the room to return downstairs; Sirius following quietly with the squirming child held firmly in his arms. Within seconds their joint soft pops were the last indication of anyone having been there as the house settled once more for the night.

 

* * *

 

 

The two wizards appeared in front of a red brick Victorian styled house seconds later. It was the shelter for muggleborns. Sirius made a resigned sigh as he looked at the impassive Malfoy next to him. The toddler was sobbing now in his arms and not fighting anymore; the _Silencio_ still in effect as not a sound was heard.

Lucius knew he had to hand in the toddler now, but first, he clamped in his personal emotions firmly so that the shelter staff would have no inkling. With a squaring of his frame, he turned to the wizard next to him. Black was cradling the toddler and trying to hush him without success. Lucius gritted his teeth, it was more difficult for the old Gryffindor to clamp his feelings so he would have to do the handover himself.

Without saying anything he reached out and took the toddler from Black’s arms. Black didn’t protest as he was obviously hanging by a thread emotionally.

“I will take him. You can come along or go home, Black.” Lucius started to stroll toward the door without waiting for a response. He wasn’t surprised when he heard the soft pop that indicated that Black had chosen to lick his wounds back at his home.

The toddler was staring up at him wide-eyed, his cheeks wet with tears and lids red-rimmed. Lucius stopped in front of the door to study the boy’s face. Surprised to see he had almost the same grey eyes as the Malfoy family. Lifting a hand he delicately wiped the sandy blonde lock away that had fallen over his forehead. Something tucked at his heart as he watched the fear filled eyes.

With a sigh, he cradled the boy closer to his chest and gave him a peck on his forehead while whispering to the boy. “Hush little child… Tomorrow you will wake up in a land of enchantment and magic… and my wife and I, we will take you home as soon as we can.”

And at that moment Lucius knew it as truth, this boy will be a Malfoy.

 

The End


End file.
